Lesson 4bExplaining Relationships in Historical Texts
Read When we read historical texts, we learn about people, events, and ideas. Some historical texts describe simple cause-and-effect relationships that tell what happened and why. Other historical texts explain how one cause led to many effects, or how several causes produced one important effect.
Read the passage below. As you do, try to identify relationships between causes and their effects.
During the Middle Ages, much of Africa was a mystery to Europeans. A few travelers, however, told tales of wealthy African kingdoms and endless supplies of gold. But was this true? Could fortunes be made there?
By the 1400s, improvements to European sailing ships made long ocean trips possible. So, Portuguese sailors began exploring along Africa’s coastline. They set up trading posts in ports along the way, and other Europeans soon followed. This was because the Portuguese had discovered the stories to be true. Indeed, there was wealth to be had. Europeans could trade their goods for salt, spices, ivory, and yes, even gold!
Explaining relationships between people, events, and ideas will help you understand what matters in historical texts.
Lesson 4b Explaining Relationships in Historical Texts66
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67Lesson 4b Explaining Relationships in Historical Texts
Theme: Ancient African Kingdoms Lesson 4b
Academic Talk Use these words and phrases to talk about the text.
• cause and effect • historical texts• ideas • relationships
Talk Share your cause-and-effect organizer with a partner.
• Did you list all the same causes?
• Do all the causes you list actually lead to the effect?
• Are some of your causes not events but ideas?
Think Consider what you’ve learned about reading historical texts. According to the passage you just read, what happened? And what caused it to happen? Use the cause-and-effect organizer below to show how three causes led to one important effect.
1 The Sahara is a vast desert in northern Africa. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. Its size and harsh conditions make travel hazardous. Nevertheless, trade thrived here from the 700s to the 1500s. It continues to this day.
2 Long ago, Berber merchants established a network of trade routes across the Sahara. These routes linked markets in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe with markets in West Africa. The merchants regularly crossed the Sahara to African settlements on the fringes of the desert. In those settlements, they traded salt, horses, cloth, and later, books for gold, metals, spices, and other items from farther south. Berber and African merchants made profits, so trade increased. As a result, the African settlements grew to become important centers of trade. And as trade increased, so did the wealth and power of the West African rulers.
3 To Berber merchants, the dangerous journey across the Sahara was worth the risk. For safety, merchants traveled together in large groups known as caravans. Using camels to transport their goods, caravans walked about 200 miles a week. Even at that pace, however, the trip took more than three months.
4 The merchants’ use of camels made it possible for them to cross the Sahara. These hardworking animals could carry heavy loads with ease over scorching, shifting sands. During long journeys, they had the ability to conserve water. Camels were called “ships of the desert” because they hauled trade goods across the desert, just as ships carried cargo across the sea.
Close Reader Habits
What events made it possible for West African settlements to become important centers of trade? Reread the article. Underline the details that seem most important.
Saharan Trade RoutesAncient
Read
Explaining Relationships in Historical Texts Lesson 4b
What caused the West African settlements to become important centers of trade?
Think
1 Complete the organizer below to identify the causes behind West African settlements becoming important centers of trade.
Talk
2 Share your organizers. What causes did you describe? How do you know they are actually causes? If necessary, add details to improve your organizer.
Write
3 Short Response What led to West African settlements becoming important centers of trade? Support your answer with details from the text. Use the space provided on page 72 to write your answer.
An event can have more than one cause and more than one effect.
HINT In your answer, try using phrases such as “one cause was,” “a second cause was,” and so on.
Explore
Causes Effect
The West African settlements became important centers of trade.
1 Born in 1485, Leo Africanus traveled across the Sahara to the city of Timbuktu in West Africa. His account provides a glimpse of life there in the early 1500s.
2 In the center of the city is a temple… and in addition there is a large palace, constructed by the same architect, where the king lives. The shops of the artisans, the merchants, and especially weavers of cotton cloth are very numerous. Fabrics are also imported from Europe to Timbuktu, borne by Berber merchants. …
3 The inhabitants are very rich, especially the strangers who have settled in the country; so much so that the current king has given two of his daughters in marriage to two brothers, both businessmen, on account of their wealth. There are many wells containing sweet water in Timbuktu; and in addition, when the Niger [River] is in flood, canals deliver the water to the city. Grain and animals are abundant, so that the consumption of milk and butter is considerable. But salt is in very short supply because it is carried here from Tegaza, some 500 miles from Timbuktu. I happened to be in this city at a time when a load of salt sold for eighty ducats. The king has a rich treasure of coins and gold ingots. One of these ingots weighs 970 pounds. …
4 There are in Timbuktu numerous judges, teachers, and priests, all properly appointed by the king. He greatly honors learning. Many hand-written books imported from Barbary1 are also sold. There is more profit made from this commerce than from all other merchandise.
5 Instead of coined money, pure gold nuggets are used; and for small purchases, cowrie shells which have been carried from Persia, and of which 400 equal a ducat.
1 Barbary: a region north of the Sahara desert
Close Reader Habits
What did the king of Timbuktu think of culture and learning? Reread the article. Underline sentences that show what the king thought.
from
The History and Description of Africa
TimbuktuTimbuktu
TegazaTegaza
Niger River
AtlanticOcean
Sahara DesertSahara Desert
Read
Explaining Relationships in Historical Texts Lesson 4b
Think Use what you learned from the eyewitness account to answer the following questions.
1 The chart shows causes and effects from the text. Complete the chart by drawing Xs in the boxes to connect the causes with the effects. Some causes may have two effects.
Effects
Causes
Timbuktu merchants became rich.
There were many judges, teachers, and priests.
Salt was imported from 500 miles away.
Berber merchants set up trade routes with Europe.
Grain and animals were plentiful, but salt was not.
The king respected education and learning.
Talk
2 Based on Leo Africanus’ account, what were two causes that led to Timbuktu becoming a center of culture and learning? Use the organizer on page 73 to gather evidence from the text.
Write
3 Short Response Use evidence from your organizer and the text to explain how Timbuktu became a center of culture and learning. Use the space provided on page 73 to write your answer.
HINT Use words and phrases such as “because” and “as a result” to show relationships.
An eyewitness account gives the point of view of a writer who was there.Eyewitness accounts typically tell what the writer experienced.
Modeled and Guided Instruction
Check Your Writing
Did you read the prompt carefully?
Did you put the prompt in your own words?
Did you use the best evidence from the text to support your ideas?
2 Use the cause-and-effect organizer below to organize your ideas and evidence.
Write Use the space below to write your answer to the question on page 71.
3 Short Response Use evidence from your organizer and the text to explain how Timbuktu became a center of culture and learning.
HINT Use words and phrases such as “because” and “as a result” to show relationships.
The History and Description of AfricaCauses Effect
What happened?Why did this happen?
Why did this happen?
1 During the Middle Ages, three powerful kingdoms rose in West Africa. As a result of trade links across the Sahara, each kingdom became wealthy and powerful. Each kingdom also developed a vibrant culture from the exchange of new ideas.
THE KINGDOM OF GHANA2 The Soninke (soh NIHN keh) people founded ancient Ghana in about
300 ce. The kingdom lay within the borders of what is now Mauritania, Mali, and Senegal.
3 From the 700s to the 1200s, Ghana was a thriving center for trade. Merchants flocked to the capital city of Kumbi Saleh. There, they traded salt, swords, books, horses, and other goods for gold from Ghana’s carefully hidden gold mines. Muslim traders from North Africa introduced Islam to ancient Ghana. They also brought new ideas about mathematics, science, and architecture.
T H E R I S E A N D F A L L O F
For centuries, merchants from across Africa came to Kumbi Saleh to trade horses and other goods for gold.
by Jo Pitkin
THREEAFRICANKINGDOMS
Independent Practice
74 Lesson 4b Explaining Relationships in Historical Texts
WORDS TO KNOWAs you read, look inside, around, and beyond these words to figure out what they mean. • exchange• absorbed• system
4 Kings in Ghana helped the kingdom prosper. They controlled the gold trade and introduced a system of taxation. They taxed merchants for what they brought in and took out of the kingdom. The kings also founded an army that kept the merchants safe and protected the kingdom from invaders.
5 Ghana’s empire reached its peak in the 11th century. Over the next 200 years, however, events weakened the kingdom. North African raiders repeatedly invaded Ghana. Smaller states under Ghana’s control revolted. And Ghana suffered a terrible drought. By 1240, Ghana had lost its power and was absorbed into another thriving West African kingdom—Mali.
THE KINGDOM OF MALI6 The kingdom of Mali was founded in the mid-1200s after Ghana
collapsed. Its first ruler expanded the kingdom beyond the borders of Ghana and its gold fields. Mali grew to be three times the size of Ghana. At its height, Mali controlled both the gold trade and the salt trade in the north.
West African Kingdoms (300–1600 ce)
This map shows the locations of the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. Ghana existed from roughly 300 to 1240 ce, but was then absorbed into the growing kingdom of Mali. Mali lasted until the late 1400s, when it was taken over by Songhai. Songhai fell in 1591.
Explaining Relationships in Historical Texts Lesson 4b
This is an image of Mansa Musa, the most powerful king of Mali. It comes from a map made around 1375. His crown and staff represent his royal power, and the golden nugget he holds indicates his great wealth.
7 Mali’s most powerful king was Mansa Musa. During his reign, he extended the borders of his kingdom, and trade tripled. He divided his empire into provinces to make it easier to rule. Each province was headed by its own governor. In 1324, Mansa Musa made a religious journey to Mecca in modern-day Saudi Arabia. This drew attention to the king’s wealth and power. Under Mansa Musa’s rule, the cities of Timbuktu and Gao became important centers of Islamic culture and learning.
8 After Mansa Musa’s death, the great empire slowly began to fall apart. Power struggles among Mali’s ruling families in the 1300s weakened the kingdom. In the early 1400s, different groups from the north, south, and east raided the kingdom. By the late 1400s, the Mali empire had crumbled.
THE KINGDOM OF SONGHAI 9 Songhai (song HIGH) began as a small state in the Mali
empire. In 1340, it declared its independence from Mali. In 1464, Sunni Ali became ruler of the kingdom. After building a strong army and fleets of war canoes, Sunni Ali set out to extend his empire. He conquered Timbuktu in 1468. Then he captured what was left of the Mali territories. Now the Songhai kingdom was larger than the old empires of Ghana and Mali combined.
10 Muhammad Touré was one of Sunni Ali’s generals. He ruled Songhai from 1493 to 1528. He increased the size of the empire yet again. Touré also created a new system of laws and found new ways to boost trade. By encouraging the study of mathematics and science, the king made Timbuktu into a center of learning once more.
11 Like Ghana and Mali, Songhai controlled trade routes and rich sources of gold. Yet the Songhai empire eventually fell. Power struggles erupted among leaders of different provinces. Then war broke out. Finally, Moroccan soldiers with guns invaded Songhai in 1591, defeating Songhai troops armed with swords, spears, and bows and arrows. The provinces were split up into small states, bringing the mighty Songhai empire to an end.
3 The chart shows causes and effects that are stated in the text. Complete the chart by drawing Xs in the boxes to connect the causes with the effects. Some causes may have more than one effect.
Effects
Causes
Ghana grew wealthy and powerful.
Mali grew wealthy and powerful.
Songhai grew wealthy and powerful.
Controlled the gold trade
Controlled the salt trade
Had a strong army
Had a system of laws
Write
What can you conclude about why Ghana, Mali, and Songhai grew powerful and eventually fell? Reread the passage. Underline specific causes that led to each kingdom’s rise and fall. Then answer items 4 and 5.
4 Plan Your Response What are the causes of the rise and fall of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai? Use an organizer to gather evidence from the text.
5 Write an Extended Response Use evidence from the text and information from your organizer to explain why Ghana, Mali, and Songhai rose and fell.
Explaining Relationships in Historical Texts Lesson 4b
Learning TargetIn this lesson, you explained the relationships between people, events, and ideas in different historical texts. Describe how doing so will help you better understand historical texts.
